Oct. 28, 2010
Box Score
BEAUMONT - A pair of Lady Cardinals posted career performances on Thursday night at McDonald Gym as Lamar University picked up an important Southland Conference volleyball victory over Nicholls by a 3-1 score.
The win broke a second place tie between Lamar and Nicholls in the SLC East Division as the Lady Cardinals improved to 10-12 on the year and 6-5 in league play. Lamar will play its final home match of the 2010 season on Saturday afternoon at 1 when Southeastern Louisiana pays a visit.
Sophomore middle blocker Wendy Krell, the 2009 SLC Freshman of the Year, finished with a career-high 25 kills. Krell played an all-around strong match as she attacked at a .541 percentage, added three service aces and finished with five block assists.
"All week in practice we worked on tempo connections between our middles and the setters and Wendy was good all week," said LU head coach Justin Gibert. "She delivered that tonight and did a great job of really finding the holes.
"Bottom line is we don't win tonight without the offense of Wendy."
Lamar had its chances early, but some untimely service errors allowed Nicholls (13-11, 5-6) to win the first set 25-23. The Lady Cardinals rebounded with a pair of 25-19 wins in sets two and three to take a 2-1 lead.
The Colonels came out strong in the fourth set and jumped out to a 12-5 lead. Lamar began to get its offense clicking and slowly mounted a comeback. Back-to-back Krell service aces allowed the Lady Cardinals to tie the match at 15 and grab momentum.
Nicholls made one last effort and pulled ahead 18-17, but Lamar was not to be denied. The Lady Cardinals closed the match on an 8-2 run and a Megan McStravick kill finished the Colonels off by a 25-20 score.
While Krell provided the offense, it was the superb defense of Angel Colyar that allowed Lamar to run its game plan so well. Colyar finished with a career-high 30 digs and did a great job of not letting anything hit the floor while providing pinpoint passing.
"We've struggled with floor defense and we really need that player to step up back there and drive the defense," noted Gibert. "Angel really did that tonight. She was very aggressive and gave a level of effort that we haven't had all season."
While Colyar posted the gaudy numbers, junior Bailey Smith and sophomore Kaleigh Wright were also strong in the Lady Cardinal backcourt. Wright notched 16 digs, while Smith finished with 10.
For the match, Lamar hit a solid .270 as a team and limited the Colonels to a .155 attack percentage. LU's 87 digs were a season-high and were a big reason that Lamar was able to shut down the Colonels' offense.
McStravick continued her solid freshman season as she recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore setter Alex Morford seemed to pick the right hitters all night as she dished out 56 assists and directed the potent Lady Cardinal offense.
The Colonels got 11 kills from Jennifer Brandt and 10 from Jessica Addicks.
LAMAR
